For two days the world waited for the verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman. Outside the Seminole County courthouse, more than 200 demonstrators were on hand to hear what would become of the man who shot Trayvon Martin.

For two days the world waited for the verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman. Outside the Seminole County courthouse, more than 200 demonstrators were on hand to hear what would become of the man who shot Trayvon Martin.

B37 is snarky. B29 is emotional. B51 is caring.

Either we're talking about a new, far more interesting version of bingo or observations about the six women who served on the George Zimmerman jury.

Trial watchers became accustomed to referring to the women by their letter and numerical codes during the five weeks of jury selection and testimony.

But there are reasons why everyone should care about making sure juries aren't kept in the shadows.

Plain and simple: Secret juries undermine public confidence in the system.

The right to a jury trial is as fundamental as the other civil liberties also enshrined in the Constitution.

The Founding Fathers intentionally set up the jury system — panels of everyday people to judge guilt. What a stark contrast to the secretive Star Chamber courts that colonists left behind.

When juries aren't open to scrutiny, the American legal system is asking for trouble.

Consider the case of John Gotti.

The Mafia leader was acquitted of racketeering by an anonymous jury in 1987.

Five years went by before it was discovered that one juror had Mafia connections and took a bribe to push for an acquittal.

Perhaps if the jury had not been anonymous, the truth about the rogue juror would have been discovered sooner — or the bribe wouldn't have happened at all because the risk of scrutiny would have been too great.

Judges started allowing more anonymous juries as more organized-crime and drug-cartel cases went to trial in the late 1980s and early '90s. The idea was that cloaking jurors' identities would protect them from retaliation by the bad guys they convicted.

Today there's a new bad guy cited when lawyers and judges make juries anonymous: the media and public.

Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. kept the names of jurors who acquitted Casey Anthony of murder secret for three months after her trial.

The judge's reasoning was jury safety and, he noted, they "returned a verdict which was not viewed in a popular light by a large segment of the public."

Legal experts I talked with couldn't recall a single instance of a juror being hurt or threatened after a trial.

They might have to deal with knocks on the door by reporters, but they aren't compelled to talk — though some of them almost always do.

Just look at B37, who is making book deals and TV appearances while also enjoying her anonymity.

The ink was barely dry on Zimmerman's acquittal form when an agent announced B37 had a book deal (short-lived, it turns out). Then B37 appeared on CNN on Monday and Tuesday night, though only in a darkened silhouette that didn't show her face.

The College of William and Mary Law School has attracted attention from various corners for helping disabled veterans receive their benefits. Now the General Assembly has taken notice — to the tune of $245,000.